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Review: Shock Top Ghost Pepper Wheat Experimental Beer

December 20, 2013

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Earlier this year, Shock Top didn’t release its experimental Campfire Wheat Beer, a balls-out brew meant to taste like s’mores. Like Campfire, Ghost Pepper Wheat is destined for service at beer festivals only, so you’ll have to keep tabs on Shock Top’s website or Facebook page to figure out where it can be found.

Fortunately, unlike Campfire, Ghost Pepper Wheat is a far more successful (if less ambitious) experiment. An unfiltered wheat beer brewed with ghost pepper chiles — the hottest chile pepper in the world — plus a touch of blue agave and citrus peel, it’s a bit of a spin on tradition, combining the cereal notes of a wheat beer with the crispness of a Mexican lager.

The inclusion of the ghost pepper is of course the unique part of the draw here, and unlike many pepper-infused beers, Ghost Pepper Wheat doesn’t overplay this aspect of the beer. In fact, the spiciness is just barely present — just a hint on the tongue and the cheeks, so little that there can’t be more than a few drops of ghost pepper extract in an entire batch of this beer. In fact, it’s so mild that it’s one of the few times I’ve encountered a spicy beer (generally a bad idea in my book) where I actually thought it could use more heat.

Aside from the spiciness (or lack thereof), the beer is worthwhile. The citrus peel element is noticeable, but not overdone, giving the wheat beer base a little balance. Could you get the same effect by dropping a squeeze of orange and a dash of Tabasco into your standard grade Shock Top? Probably, but where’s the fun in that?